I have been part of an online sewing discussion group for something over twenty years. Over that time there are people who I have gotten to know really well even though we have never met in person. We write we share our work with one another and we solve our fiber related problems together. It is inevitable when you do creative work to get stumped by a problem. The joy of being part of a sewing discussion group with really smart members with and really wide range of expertise is that you have a couple of thousand minds to pick when you feel stuck.
One of the wise voices on that list belongs to Phyllis who was a pattern designer for the industry and was for a while a wedding dress designer and maker. She still has her hand in the world of design and craft although no longer in the garment industry. I have always admired Phyllis' work for its crisp professionalism. Phyllis was in town for a sewing conference and suggested that we meet in real life.
We met outside of Metro Textile on 37th and Seventh Avenue. We didn't have a plan of where to go. We thought that we might go to the main branch of the New York Public Library and see what exhibits were there. But along the way, we stopped off at stores that seemed appealing.
We stopped off at Hai Trimming. There was tons of bling to admire. It's an odd thing when you see a whole lot of shiny stuff displayed all together it starts to seem kind of appealing. It could be that it is seeing a whole lot of anything carefully displayed just appeals to me. I also adore hardware stores and stationery supply stores.
We stopped into Sposabella Lace. They had been on 40th street for several decades but are now on 37th Street. The owner began chatting with us and regaled us with stories about the garment district in the old days. I have made a whole bunch of lace dresses over the years. If you bought a dress in a store out of the laces I have used you would probably spend a few hundred dollars for the dress. The lace at Sposabella is from an entirely different species of lace. I was besotted with an embroidered lace in a large scale undersea pattern. From far away the laces look like the stuff you can buy for $20/yard on sale but close up it is far more beautiful. I just looked at their website. Assume that each fabric is about 30% more wonderful than it is in the photos.
When my youngest was eleven he got glasses for the first time. On our way home from picking up his glasses, he realized that he had been seeing the world in a flattened out way. After visiting Sposabella you will realize that you previously had no understanding of what lace actually could be.
We had walked about half a block. We needed a snack so we stopped and refueled.
Our next stop was at East Coast Trimming. They had purchased all of the stock of Hyman Hendler's who had manufactured and sold ribbons for a century.
Visiting the store was like walking through the brains of a very old and fascinating person
There were ribbons I remembered from my childhood.
My sisters and I used to sew ribbons like these onto the hems of our jeans in the early and mid-1970s. I remember the hours we took selecting our trims from the selection at The Windsor Button Shop.
Where else can you find wide taffeta ribbon like this? Check out the picot edges.
Just like when my husband and I were in Rome, here at East Coast there was old, and then there was older and then there was really old.
I regret that I didn't take photos of the velvet and satin ribbons in odd color combinations that haven't been used since the 1920s.
I love the dots.
Phyllis bought a bit of trim for herself and for her granddaughters.
I swooned often but purchased nothing.
By the way, even if you are not able to come to New York to shop, both Sposabella and East Coast Trim can help you source materials in the old fashioned way. You can call them and they can help you find what you need. This is how they did a ton of their business before the dawn of the age of computers.
One of the wise voices on that list belongs to Phyllis who was a pattern designer for the industry and was for a while a wedding dress designer and maker. She still has her hand in the world of design and craft although no longer in the garment industry. I have always admired Phyllis' work for its crisp professionalism. Phyllis was in town for a sewing conference and suggested that we meet in real life.
We met outside of Metro Textile on 37th and Seventh Avenue. We didn't have a plan of where to go. We thought that we might go to the main branch of the New York Public Library and see what exhibits were there. But along the way, we stopped off at stores that seemed appealing.
We stopped off at Hai Trimming. There was tons of bling to admire. It's an odd thing when you see a whole lot of shiny stuff displayed all together it starts to seem kind of appealing. It could be that it is seeing a whole lot of anything carefully displayed just appeals to me. I also adore hardware stores and stationery supply stores.
We stopped into Sposabella Lace. They had been on 40th street for several decades but are now on 37th Street. The owner began chatting with us and regaled us with stories about the garment district in the old days. I have made a whole bunch of lace dresses over the years. If you bought a dress in a store out of the laces I have used you would probably spend a few hundred dollars for the dress. The lace at Sposabella is from an entirely different species of lace. I was besotted with an embroidered lace in a large scale undersea pattern. From far away the laces look like the stuff you can buy for $20/yard on sale but close up it is far more beautiful. I just looked at their website. Assume that each fabric is about 30% more wonderful than it is in the photos.
When my youngest was eleven he got glasses for the first time. On our way home from picking up his glasses, he realized that he had been seeing the world in a flattened out way. After visiting Sposabella you will realize that you previously had no understanding of what lace actually could be.
We had walked about half a block. We needed a snack so we stopped and refueled.
Our next stop was at East Coast Trimming. They had purchased all of the stock of Hyman Hendler's who had manufactured and sold ribbons for a century.
Visiting the store was like walking through the brains of a very old and fascinating person
There were rolls of ribbon that were old when my mother was a little girl.
There were ribbons I remembered from my childhood.
Where else can you find wide taffeta ribbon like this? Check out the picot edges.
This strawberry embroidered ribbon in the worst of 1970's colors was merely old. ( I can't even comprehend this color combination it was something I had completely forgotten)
The sweet yellow ribbon just below may be from before WWI.
I love the dots.
They sell new ribbons made out of hand-dyed silk cut on the bias
I adored these pleated ribbons with the embroidered ribbons holding the pleats in place.
Phyllis bought a bit of trim for herself and for her granddaughters.
I swooned often but purchased nothing.
By the way, even if you are not able to come to New York to shop, both Sposabella and East Coast Trim can help you source materials in the old fashioned way. You can call them and they can help you find what you need. This is how they did a ton of their business before the dawn of the age of computers.
Love that comment! "I swooned often but purchased nothing."
ReplyDeleteYou are like me. You can see potential for each one. Not necessarily enough potential to go through with it, though. And for some, you can actually visualise something fully made up using the ribbon. But that is enough - to visualise - and leave the memory intact.
And some are so wonderful you might drop all your current work to make something using the ribbon. So, you swoon and leave it there because the making up would not necessarily be followed by a purpose or what have you. ;-)
I have tried to post comments recently from my phone, but although it says it is publishing, nothing happens. So, then you lose hope and decide there isn't time to go on the computer in order to write the post again! Still, I wanted to say, I do have a conversation with you in my head!
I am so happy to see your comments. I missed hearing from, you Sandy!
DeleteSeeing so much beautiful unusual stuff in one place is just like having a party in my brain. Visiting East Coast had an element of going through an old photo album. There were color combinations, patterns and textile combinations that I had forgotten existed. For both Phyllis and me the whole experience was entirely visceral. I kept feeling like I wanted to lick the trims...to ingest them...Yeah I do have self control my mouth didn't touch the striped velvet and satin ribbon in saturated colors, or any of the other trims. But we both kept laughing at discovering trims and color combinations we had forgotten from our childhoods..and we kept coming up with the garments that the trims might have decorated. we were well matched Phyllis and I- we kept pulling each other to notice a great roll the other may not have noticed. There was so much to see.
;-) so good to do something with a companion who 'gets it', too!
DeleteLoved the sunset post also.
Yes! the excellent company made it better. I am always aware when taking a monm schmatta pal through the district or into a fabric or stim store of not taxing their patience too much. my husband is usually incredibly kind about this but I try not to take advantage of that patience. Phyllis and I looked so hard in so many stores and saw so much...we only walked a few blocks.. Glad you enjoyed the sunsets...clearly I did too.
Delete